Since the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic we have seen our staff teams, time and time again, go above and beyond to support our children and young people during what is undoubtedly the most challenging and unprecedented of times.

Providing that on-going consistency, support and encouragement for children – whether they were in the classroom or not was just one way our schools went above and beyond to make sure the children and their families felt included.

Our Arc School Old Arley quickly took to using Google Classroom, an online platform where the children could access lessons and resources and then upload their work to be marked.

The school also launched ‘live lessons’ through Microsoft Teams which allowed children to log into lessons on their timetables, along with their teachers and teaching assistants, to be able to discuss their learning and share ideas.

They developed their own YouTube playlist through the Kedleston Group account for children and families to access saved lessons, storytelling and many other fun videos which helped everyone feel connected and part of the school community.

We checked in directly with the parents to find out about the whole 'learning from home' experience and asked them what we could have done better to improve on any support and guidance in the future. Here is what they had to say....

“Children were allowed to continue their education, teachers were available on the phone, online and through email. Homework was also posted out and via online courses to support the children. Work was checked on a daily basis to make sure no one fell behind.”

“Daily check in calls were all much appreciated and showed your commitment to facilitate learning at home through a very difficult period in time.”

“Contact letters and on-going comms around what to expect when he returned into the school environment allowed conversations to take place in the run up to his return to alleviate a lot of his concerns.”

When asked how they would rate the overall communication during the lockdown...the school scored 3.5 out of 4 stars! Fantastic work from the team at Arc School Old Arley.

You can speak to the team about placements or referrals for Arc School Old Arley on [email protected] or 0800 024 6985.